• On the eve of Obama's visit with the Palestinian president, Secretary of State Clinton made clear there was no wiggle room in the administration's stance on Israeli settlements: no expansion, period – not even "natural" growth. Josh Mitnickupdates this story with links to five recent Monitor articles.

• Alexandra Marks is visiting the small Italian town that suffered a massive earthquake recently. Prime Minister Berlusconi's recent decision to move the upcoming G-8 Summit to the town is meant to help keep attention on the recovery effort, but life remains a struggle.

• Patrik Jonsson reports on Republicans in Congress tacking gun rights amendments onto unrelated bills, and Democrats don't appear to have much stomach to put up a fight.

• Peter Grier is reviewing what scientists and nuclear experts in the West are gleaning from North Korea's nuclear and missile tests.

• Mark Trumbullreports on the deal between key GM bondholders and the company and the US Treasury. It doesn’t prevent a GM bankruptcy, but it does mean the Treasury is pushing hard for a smooth process to preserve as much of GM’s economic value as possible.